


Happenstance

by unfortunatecircumstance



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Good Sibling Lex Luthor, Kid Fic, does this count as a kid fic if it isnt theirs?, just some good fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:13:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28185213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unfortunatecircumstance/pseuds/unfortunatecircumstance
Summary: In which Kara and Lena are oblivious best friends that need a little help from today's youth, who better than Lex's daughter to support the cause?Featuring a sleepover, a grocery run, an incident, and dinner and a movie.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 22
Kudos: 368





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> as always, proofreading was NOT done. forgive me and pls enjoy

"Auntie Lena!" Lena can just barely hold her ground as a 7-year-old bundle of energy hurls herself at her legs.

"Hi, Bug!", she responds just as enthusiastically.

"Would you _please_ stop referring to your niece as an insect? She's a Luthor, after all." Lena grins widely as Lex rounds the corner, smiling fondly at his daughter, and reaches out for a hug.

"No! Bug Luthor", The child interjects, "I'm Bug now." Lex gives her a look that says _this is on you, sis_ , and Lena kneels to adjust Lilly coat, chuckling affectionately. "I have a feeling grammy isn't going to like that very much, Lilly."

Lilly ponders this very seriously, remembering her namesake. "Okay. I'll be Lilly. But Auntie Lena can still call me bug." She announces formally.

Lena rises and spreads her arms in a _problem solved_ gesture, to which Lex rolls his eyes. "Alright, Lil. Be good during your sleepover, okay? But not too good, or Lee is going to end up keeping you. Promise to come back your dear old dad?"

"Don't call me that", Lena says at the same time Lilly replies, "Depends how much ice cream Aunt Lena gives me", nearly jumping with glee when she looks up and Lena mouths _"a lot"._

Lex sighs dramatically as he begins to walk away, loudly remarking, "That's it! I'm losing my daughter to the enticing lure of ice cream. What a world!" Still, he pops his head back around the corner to add, "Love you, Lil.", and pretends to catch the kiss Lilly blows him in return.

Taking Lilly's hand, Lena says, "Let's go, squishy", loud enough for Lex to hear, and snickers at the responding groan. 

As they begin down the street, hands swinging as Lilly skips over sidewalk cracks, the younger Luthor asks, "where are we going first? Ice cream? Fries? Pancakes?"

"I'll do you one better", she replies. "We're going grocery shopping, and you can get anything, within reason, that you want." 

Lilly gasps and looks up at her in disbelief for a second, then very nearly drags her down the street, little legs working double time while laughing in a way that Lena _definitely_ has reason to fear. "This is gonna be so good!"

\----------

Lilly, to Lena's bewilderment, doesn't make a beeline for the junk aisle. She instead strolls through every aisle methodically, tossing everything that catches her eye into the cart. _That_ part definitely doesn't surprise Lena. Every so often, she holds up an item for Lena to examine.

"What's this?"

"Vanilla extract. You definitely don't want that for dinner, but I have some at home you're welcome to try if you'd like."

"Okay! What's this?"

"Energy bars. Do you feel low on energy?"

"Nah. What's this?"

"Green peas, which I know for a fact you hate."

"Oh, right."

About half an hour later, they'd made their way through most of the store, and Lena takes stock of what's in the cart. Thankfully, the contents seemed to touch on most of the food groups. An assortment of pastas, a package of tofu, a collection of canned food ("cans are so cool!"), frozen meatballs, a pack of spinach, and a singular bell pepper. Also, 3 bags of chips and 2 packs of giant marshmallows. She's relatively proud of her niece's restraint. _Ice cream is dairy, right? Whatever, I'll make her drink some milk before bed._

Just before they turn into the dairy section, Lilly practically buzzing with excitement ("ice cream!!"), someone collides with Lena from behind, a precariously balanced cracker boxes falling to the ground. The teenager behind her immediately scrambles to apologize. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going. Totally my fault."

"No worries", Lena smiles reassuringly as she helps restack the boxes into his arms. As she hands him another box, a childish shriek from the next aisle has Lena sprinting around the corner, heart in her throat. As she turns the corner, she catches sight of a stranger holding Lilly around the waist, and a raging fury rises in her. _A kidnapping, in broad daylight, in a busy grocery store? What kind of absolute imbecile-_

And then the stranger turns, sets Lilly on her feet, and- _oh._

Kara Danvers, occasional reporter turned best friend and absolutely _not_ the object of her daydreams, is staring at Lilly with concern etched in her brow. "Are you okay? Where are your parents?"

She looks up as Lena reaches them, watching as Lilly turns and throws herself into Lena's arms, sniffling. "I'm sorry, Aunt Lena, I didn't mean to! I was just so excited, I made a mistake, I'm sorry." 

"Hey, slow down, bug. Start from the beginning", Lena soothes as she brushes hair out of her niece's face. Lilly only tightens her arms and buries her face in Lena's neck, so she looks to Kara for explanation. To the blonde's credit, she takes the situation in stride, letting out a little "ohh" when she hears "aunt Lena".

"It's nothing terrible, she was just really excited for the ice cream on the top shelf and a little too small to reach it from the ground. She slipped a little and I happened to be close enough to catch her."

Instinctively, Lena twists her head towards Lilly and says in abject horror, "You climbed a freezer shelf?!". When Lilly turns her head and refuses to respond, she immediately backtracks, tapping her shoulder to gain her attention. "Hey, hey, no one's mad at you and you're not in trouble. You just scared me because I love you very much and don't want to see you hurt. Do you believe me?"

Slowly, Lilly turns towards her and nods. Kara helpfully adds, "I don't blame you, rocky road is pretty much the best there is. I'd fight Superman for a pint of it", and Lilly cracks a smile.

The little Luthor wiggles down from Lena and goes to squeeze Kara as tight as she can. "Thank you very much for catching me. You're very nice and strong and smell good."

 _Don't I know it,_ Lena thinks, hiding a smile as Kara blushes. 

The teenager from before catches up to them by then, having balanced his multiple boxes. "Oh god, I'm so glad she's okay. I'm really sorry for bumping into you, I didn't mean to distract you."

"It was a total accident. Don't even worry about it. Just make sure to watch your step in the future, okay?" 

"Absolutely", he responds, walking away. "You make a lovely family, by the way."

Lena meets Kara's wide eyes at the statement, and they both look down at Lilly, who has already forgotten the whole incident.

"I'm Lilly Luthor, by the way." She says, holding a hand out. "What's your name?"

"Kara Danvers", the blonde shakes her hand and replies in her most official voice. "Junior reporter and friend to your Aunt Lena."

Lilly gasps in shock and turns to Lena for confirmation, to which the brunettes nods.

"You should join us for dinner! I picked out all the in-gre-di-ents myself, come look!" Lena preens at her niece's impeccable pronunciation.

They grab a carton of ice cream and walk back to the end of the aisle, where Kara is met with the absolute chaos that is Lena's cart.

Kara raises her eyebrows in disbelief. "Wow, Lee. This is...something else. Glad you're expanding your palate", she teases. Lena's too busy blushing to notice the suspicion that crosses Lilly's face, and answers with a shrug that screams _look at her, would you say no?_

"So what do you say? Will you come eat with us?"

Kara lifts her head to silently ask permission from Lena, which she appreciates. She wants to say yes, but what if Kara didn't want her to? What if she was only playing along for Lilly's sake? Sensing hesitation, Lilly adds, "There's no way we could carry _all_ these groceries by ourselves."

"I'm mean we _could_ -" 

"Aunt Lena, I want a watermelon."

\----------

Lilly skips home, hugging her marshmallows to her chest, while Kara holds the watermelon and cans with ease and Lena lags slightly behind with the rest. Her heart warms as she listens to their idle conversation while they walk.

"So how do you know Aunt Lena?" 

"Oh, we met through work and became the best of friends."

"How best?"

"Like if there was only one pint of rocky road left and Lena was falling out of a fridge, I might go and catch her instead of going for the ice cream."

 _Might?_ "Woah, does that mean _we're_ gonna be bestest friends?"

"What? I thought we already were! Have I been deceived?"

Lilly's laughter echoes down the street, and Lena finds herself wondering how much of a reality this could become.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> should i just call it a crack fic at this point? this entire chapter is just tooth-rotting fluff and minor feels.
> 
> Anyways, merry chrimmis everyone! (if you celebrate)

The procession back to Lena's apartment is a dire situation. It becomes that way after Kara remembers that ice cream melts the longer it's out of the fridge, and Lena's 3 PhD's simultaneously stand to attention to remind her: _oh yeah,_ _that's why you were going to call a car_.

She honestly thinks refrozen ice cream would be just as good, but the wounded look on both her companion's faces when she suggests it has her quickening her pace. The moment they reach the complex doors, Kara drops her bags (relatively gently), and snatches up the ice cream to sprint to Lena's apartment. Then sprints back down to them when Lena reminds her that keys are necessary to enter apartments.

When she returns, arms raised triumphantly, Lilly cheers so loud Lena winces in sympathy for the other tenants, but can't help the absolute adoration that springs in her chest. God, she loves this dork.

"My hero. You saved the ice cream from being two minutes more melted", she smirks instead of continuing to stare like a fool. Kara bows in response. 

"Just making the world a better place, one carton at the time." They smile goofily at each other until Lilly sighs pointedly. 

"Can we go up yet? The faster we go up the faster I get in on these marshmallows."

By the time they reach the apartment, Lena realizes Lilly fully intends to make good on her statement, so she waits until the girl snags a marshmallow before tucking the bag away for later. She meets her pout with a gentle, "You'll get them back after dinner. Lex will never let you come back if I return you with scurvy."

A tantrum seems oncoming, but over by the kitchen, Kara cuts in with an exuberant, "You guys are in for a treat! Lilly's fabulous ingredient picking means I can make my famous spaghetti and meatballs a la Danvers." 

The little Luthor lightens a bit at the praise, and goes to pick a movie instead, gnawing on her moderately sized marshmallow. Lena mouths a "thank you" and goes to help cook, while Kara gives her a subtle thumbs up. 

Lena joins the blonde at the kitchen island, where Kara leans in to whisper, "I lied. Please don't let me cook." Lena tucks her head to stifle a giggle, trying to ignore Kara's proximity to her face and the hand that was not quite touching her wrist.

A quick glance to Lilly shows the little girl watching with something akin to victory in her eyes, so Lena surreptitiously checks that the marshmallows were still out of reach. They were. Strange.

Kara slides around her to gather spaghetti, diced tomatoes, and the frozen meatballs, pushing them in her direction.

"I call veggie duty!" 

They work seamlessly together in the kitchen, despite Lena doing most of the cooking. Lilly, after choosing _Tangled_ , wanders over to stir the occasional pot or pick out random cans to add to the dinner. Kara starts playing Disney music on her phone.

Lena works silently, bopping along to whatever song is currently playing and listening to Kara and Lilly belt out familiar choruses. She feels at peace, content, longing. _Lilly is not your daughter and Kara is not your partner,_ she reminds herself. Her little spiral is interrupted by Kara abandoning a half-cut bell pepper to sweep Lilly up and twirl around Lena, careful to keep Lilly away from the pot.

"It means no worries, for the rest of your days!", Kara belts out, before pointing an invisible microphone at Lilly. "Sing it, kid!"

"It's our problem freeee," Lilly shouts, incredibly off-key but no less exuberant, "philosophy!"

They both turn to her expectantly. 

Lena sighs. "Hakuna Matata", she mumbles. The two brightest lights in her life cheer and dance around the kitchen island. 

When the song ends, Kara turns to Lilly, cheeks flushed and breathing heavy. "We're almost finished here, can we count on you to set up the movie? We'll bring the plates out in a second."

She nods excitedly and bounces out of the kitchen, and Kara quickly finishes slicing the pepper before pulling plates out of the cupboard with familiar ease.

"You alright there?", Kara murmurs as she plates the spaghetti. "You looked a little down for a moment."

"Just deep in thought," Lena tries to smile encouragingly. "Nothing to worry about, I promise."

She leans into the brief side hug that Kara gives her, and grabs a plate and utensils to bring to the living room. "Let's not keep the bug waiting too long."

At the first bite, Kara moans in a way that should definitely be illegal, and says, "Lena, this is amazing! You-" She casts a quick look to Lilly."-have definitely perfected the Danvers recipe! I'm coming over _way_ more often." Lilly brightens more than she should at the statement.

The rest of dinner is just as energetic an affair as cooking was, both companions humming tunes through mouthfuls of spaghetti, though Lena will deny tearing up at the end until her dying breath.

After the movie ends, Lena barely draws a breath before two hopeful voices yell, "Ice cream!?"

She rolls her eyes. "Yes, it's ice cream time." They all proceed to the kitchen and Lena watches with mild horror as the two of them create absolute monstrosities of sugar, complete with marshmallows, gummies, and sprinkles to take back to the living room. Just before they retake their seats, Kara holds her bowl up with reverence, proclaiming, "Here it is. The best dessert of all time."

Lilly holds up her own, and says, "Here it is. A better dessert than Kara's."

Kara gasps, and places both bowls safely on the table before sweeping Lilly up in one smooth movement, squeezing the child tight to her chest and growling "Take it back!", while Lilly laughs and struggles to break free. Just as she's about to squirm away, Kara lunges for Lena, hands locking around her hips and trapping Lily between then. "Say Uncle!" Kara cries in mock anger, but her eyes are locked on Lena's, shining with pure joy. Lilly unexpectedly squirms away, wiggling over Kara's arms and flopping onto the couch.

As a result, Lena is pulled flush against Kara, hips bumping gently. She feels Kara's fingers flex gently through the fabric of her shirt, and can't find it in herself to pull away from the warmth.

"Are you guys gonna kiss?"

They spring apart and Lena looks anywhere but at Kara, while the blonde splutters and responds, "Nope! We were just...getting our balance back."

"It's okay if you were. Daddy says it'll happen soon enough."

Both women whip around to look at Lilly. "Come again?", Lena says pointedly. Lilly claps a hand over her mouth and shakes her head. "Nothing", she says, muffled.

"Lillian Kieran Luthor", Lena warns, "What has Lex been saying about my relationships?"

The little Luthor hesitates, bouncing on her feet anxiously. "Blonde puppy", she finally blurts. Lena can practically feel Kara choke back a laugh. "Daddy said you and 'that blonde puppy' would get together if you'd just stop dancing around each other. I didn't know who he meant, but Kara was the first one I saw, and then she said you knew each other! I just wanted you to be happy, Aunt Lena."

Lena leans forward to put her head in her hands, not daring to look at Kara, who makes a wounded noise. "I was brought here under false pretenses? I was _wing-woman'd_? Lilly, I thought we were friends!"

The child looks like she's about to cry. "We are! I really really like you, I just think Aunt Lena does too! I'm sorry, I still want to be friends, Kara." 

Lena opens her arms for Lilly to run into and shoots a warning glance at Kara, who drops the act immediately. "We're all still friends, this is Lex's fault being unable to stop gossiping about my personal life. I just...need some time to think things over. I'm not mad at you, but do you think you could hang out in your room for a little while?"

"I'm not mad either, I was just kidding," Kara adds, "I really want to be friends too." Lilly looks immensely relieved, and nods furiously.

"You're right, Aunt Lena. I am going to go to my room and reflect on my life choices." Just before disappearing through the doorway, she can't resist adding, "Kara, feel free to stay and chat!". Lena shakes her head and lets the girl go. 

"She's much too smart for her own good", Lena mutters as she shifts awkwardly. Kara is staring at her with an indecipherable look on her face.

"But is she right?"

Lena pales. "W-well, Lex likes to talk, not to say he's wrong, but I wouldn't, I don't, mayb-", she stutters to a halt as Kara walks right up to her, placing her hands back around her waist slowly, leaving her plenty of time to back away.

Kara presses their foreheads together and whispers, "Lena Luthor, do you really, really, really like me?"

"I do."

The blonde's grin could power a million suns. "That's good, because I think I love you."

A myriad of emotions drive her next action; sheer happiness, relief, and a long smothered desire. She closes the distance between them in a split second, the force tipping Kara backwards onto the couch. Lena would later refuse to admit they made out on the couch like teenagers, but there's really no better way to describe it.

"The ice cream!", Lena suddenly remembers mid-kiss, "It's going to melt."

"What's wrong with refrozen?" Kara asks innocently. Lena finds she really, really, doesn't have an argument.

(Lilly does, but she's not about to interrupt.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this chapter at like 4am so forgive but i just wanted to get it out there uhh idk if its good

**Author's Note:**

> COULD lena have simply called a car? yes. is she a big gay mess that wants to spend more time with kara without seeming too pushy? also yes.
> 
> EDIT: not me forgetting to have them leave with ice cream even though that was the entire purpose for being there LOL


End file.
